Items sit near the Dan Fogelberg memorial at Constitution Gardens during the Dan Fogelberg weekend. August 13th marks the birthday of the singer-songer writer who was born in Peoria. (LAUREN WOOD/JOURNAL STAR FILE PHOTO)

It’s no mere marker. The commemoration simultaneously stands out and blends into Riverfront Park, both a visitor and citizen of the nature Fogelberg loved — and by the river he loved. It’s not a place: it’s an experience, as much as any of the Peoria native’s best ballads.

Soon after the singer-songwriter died at age 56 in 2007, a band of friends and fans began soliciting donations for a tribute, with the City Council’s blessing.

Two years and more than $15,000 later, the group unveiled the memorial, centered by three large granite boulders. Each is engraved with lyrics from a Fogelberg song: “Part of the Plan” (“Love when you can, cry when you have to …”), “River or Souls” (“To every man the mystery sings a different song …”) and “Icarus Ascending (“ … love is the only thing that matters.”).

A bench sits off a ways, marked with Fogelberg’s photo, allowing visitors to take in a picturesque backdrop provided by towering trees and the flowing Illinois River. Along a trail heading to the memorial, smaller stones carry other Fogelberg lyrics, from “Ever On”: